By Associated Press, Published: August 5

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — A gay couple showed up before dawn to be the first to register under Uruguay’s new “marriage equality law,” but another pair was married first Monday after getting special permission for a rushed wedding at a hospital where one of the men is dying of cancer.“It was very emotional,” said Luisa Salaberry, the civil registry worker who officiated at the hospital wedding.

She said that the ceremony was intimate and that the government waived the usual 10 days of bureaucracy because the patient’s cancer was so advanced.“They had been waiting for the law to take effect so that they could get married,” said Salaberry, who did not identify the couple.

Earlier Monday, TV producer Sergio Miranda and artist Rodrigo Borda, partners for 14 years, were the first to register.

“This is an historic day for us and for the country,” Borda said. “No longer will there be first- and second-class citizens. This will be seen in many countries where this option still isn’t possible, and hopefully help people in those places live more freely.”

Uruguay is the third country in the Americas, after Canada and Argentina, to legalize gay marriage. President Jose Mujica’s government also decriminalized abortion and expects senate approval soon for a government-managed marijuana industry.

“This will help so that many people can say, ‘I went with my boyfriend to walk in the park,’ and not have to invent that they have a girlfriend or something like that,” Miranda said.

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